OUR SEAL OF APPROVAL:
Swims 6000km Ditches Brighton for us
A LAID-back, land-loving leopard seal is believed to have travelled about 6000km from Antarctica to sun itself at Geelong’s waterfront yesterday.
The onshore stop, which took place outside the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, was the latest in a long list of seaside suburbs visited by the welltravelled seal.
The seal was sighted at Ocean Grove and Brighton Beach late last month before resurfacing on the Mornington Peninsula at Mount Eliza on September 3.
The breed is normally found in Antarctica and while considered the greatest wanderers of the Antarctic seals, they are rarely spotted in Australia.
Steve Hassell of the Royal Geelong Yacht Club said the visitor was at one of the pontoons when the workers arrived about 7.30am yesterday.
“He was there most of the morning. I don’t think he left until lunch time,” Mr Hassell said. “He was just resting, not really taking notice of anyone who went out to have a look at him.”
Leopard seals live for about 25 years.
Males can reach a length of about 2.8m and weigh up to 320kg.
Designed for speed, their body is slender and the foreflippers long.
Mr Hassell said there had been an increase in the number of marine creatures sighted in the bay in recently.
“We’ve seen lots of dolphins in close to the waterfront in recent weeks — more than is typical for this time of year and a lot closer,” he said.
“There’s lots of fish in Corio Bay at the moment so that is bringing them in … normally you see them around the channel but they’ve been in around the marina.”
The leopard seal’s diet includes penguins, fish, squid, and crustaceans.
Mr Hassell said he could recall a big elephant seal setting up residence on a Geelong boat ramp a few years back but this was the first time he has seen a leopard seal.